While some other LEGO conventions have individual builders reserve their own table space, BrickCon is all about large-scale collaborative displays. Each year since 2008, The Brothers Brick has sponsored a display, ranging from a highly coordinated zombie apocalypse to our anything-goes celebration of all things Japanese.

Last year, we tried something even more anarchic than a zombie apocalypse — a totally unstructured experiment in planetary colonization — which we think came together fairly well, so we’re going to try it again this year, as “Numereji 2422″.

As we said last year:

Our hope for the Numereji 2421 display at BrickCon 2011 is that the contributors will be free to create their vision of what kind of community would develop from a group of crash survivors isolated for a generation, and how their reconnection with other space travelers would play out.

We worked up quite a backstory and suggested lots of inspiration last year, but many potential contributors said they didn’t really get the concept until they’d seen the actual display at BrickCon (ah, the consequences of an experiment in anarchy!). Here are a few links to help refresh your memory:

Naturally, there are many other opportunities to contribute to a display in whatever way works best for your building style or preferred theme. Here are a few of our favorites:

Theme

Description

Info/Discussion

Numereji 2422

The official collaborative display for readers of The Brothers Brick. Do you have space fever? Will you be a peaceful colonist, a rogue smuggler, alien trader, or the long arm of the galactic law? You decide!

The notorious Iain Heath & Tommy Williamson are at it again, bringing together LEGO and all your favorite characters from TV, movies, and video games — as long as they’re not minifig-scale! This year’s Bricks of Character display also includes Heather Braaten’s Darlings, a memorial to a beloved LEGO fan we lost earlier this year.

BrickCon is famous for its massive, sprawling, and still somehow well-coordinated castle displays. Each year, LEGO Castle builders up the ante with taller spires, bigger armies, and more integrated motion. I can’t wait to see what Josh and his team pull together this year.

Most LEGO models are meant to be appreciated in the light. But Roger Hill’s “Dark Side” display brings together all the LEGO models that glow in the dark and blink their lights. Given how hard it is to photograph LEGO in the dark, these are models you’ll definitely want to see in person.

Coordinator Steve Oakes shared a wonderful vision for the Microscale display at the SEALUG meeting yesterday. In addition to the usual Micropolis modules and mini-trains, this year’s micro display will include a microscale version of BrickCon itself, complete with tables, stanchions, and Miniland-scale attendees! So, build a tiny version of whatever you’re bringing to BrickCon, along with a Miniland version of yourself to admire your own tiny creation. Awesome.

With the release of official DC and Marvel Super Heroes sets from LEGO, now’s the time to bring all those LEGO superheroes and supervillains together — LEGO Avengers (and others) assemble! Sean Forbes is coordinating this display, which isn’t just limited to minifig-scale models. Bring your mosaics, statues, vehicles, and anything else inspired by comic books.

Not sure which theme, collaborative display, or category your LEGO creation fits into? For example, does a microscale space fleet go in Microscale or Space? (Probably Space.) Read over the full list, and then just ask us and we’ll get you pointed in the right direction.

Important: Regardless of whether you choose to contribute to one of the group builds, it’s still important to register your LEGO models (MOCs — My Own Creations) as well as yourself. Registering all the MOCs you plan to bring ensures that coordinators know how much space we’ll need. You can’t just show up on Thursday morning with a six-foot spaceship! This really wasn’t an issue until last year, but BrickCon has grown to over 500 registered attendees, and only registered MOCs will be guaranteed table space.

Probably just a couple days before BrickCon — the cards are usually printed at the last minute. But registering your MOCs early is definitely a good idea, since the coordinators are already in planning mode. :-)